Byrdstown officials approved the first reading of a new fiscal year budget that maintains a property tax rate of less than 35 cents per 100 dollars of property value.
Mayor Sam Gibson said the budget for the upcoming fiscal year keeps the tax rate at approximately 34.9 cents to remain consistent with previous years, Gibson said the municipality is in good financial standing with a general fund balance that has grown from $500,000 dollars to an anticipated $1.5 million dollars by the end of the year.
“For a small system like ours and for the amount of things that we have done over the last few years and paid for as we’ve gone along, that’s really super, I think super good,” Gibson said.
Gibson said the budget includes plans for improvements such as the development of a new city park on the former shirt factory property. Gibson said the proposed park could eventually feature picnic areas, barbecue pits, a splash pad and pickleball courts as a significant upgrade to the local community.
“We’ve got some wonderful vision and plans for that area, and we’ve been doing a good job with our finances,” Gibson said. “I think we’re going to be able to help help get that project going.”
Gibson said the city will apply for grants in efforts to stay fiscally conservative, while thinking big when it comes to the city’s newest addition.
“Not only will it help clean up that area, but we’ll have a little city park there that people can again enjoy, just like they have the activities park across road from our office,” Gibson said.
Gibson said the town is currently conducting a study to determine the total cost of the park project and to prepare for potential grant applications. Gibson said the municipality has already begun cleaning the property using existing staff to avoid additional costs.
“If we can get a grant for that, that would be wonderful,” Gibson said. “If not, then we we do a lot of work in house. We got a wonderful staff, and so far, we have cleaned that area up without any additional cost as far as without any grants or without any additional revenue from our budget by just using our own people whenever we’re not putting in new water lines or meters, that kind of thing, just our people doing the work.”
Gibson said the town council receives quarterly updates to stay informed on the financial status and operational needs of the community. Gibson said the small size of Byrdstown allows for close collaboration between the municipality, the county government and the Chamber of Commerce.
“That’s the benefits of being in a small community where we kind of dodge a lot of the lot of the little regulations or the little formalities of things or hoops that you have to step through in order to do something,” Gibson said. “If it’s if it’s an emergency for the school, for for the county, or or the Chamber, then we going to go help.”
Gibson said a second reading and special call meeting to finalize the budget is scheduled for June 30.
“I’ve got a super Council to work with,” Gibson said. “They stay informed on how our budget’s going, how everything is operating. Every quarter, we do an update on our budget where we’re at for the year, what things that we can and could be looking forward to doing for the next year. So, they’re pretty much on top of it… it’s more of a formality for us.”
